Review of The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the U.S., and Iran’s Global Ambitions by Arash Azizi

As we approach the anniversary of the killing of Qassem Soleimani, a biography of the leader of the Quds force has been published. Arash Azizi’s book is a surprising, inevitably shadowy account of a life that shaped the Middle East and Iranian society for more than four decades, from the Iran-Iraq war to Iranian proxy operations in Lebanon and historic Palestine. Aziz’s book gives a compelling account of the making of one of the world’s most effective military tacticians.